Thursday, March 28, 2024

White Royal effort

Avatar photo
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Royal Lochinvine deer stand proud alongside their breed founder, Janey Hayes.

Stabilising the genetic mix of the white deer with the big trophy antlers has been a 15-year and hundreds-of-thousands dollar project.

“It’s been a huge challenge and I’m very proud of what I’ve done,” Hayes says. 

In simple terms the breed is a beefed-up Danish white because of the addition of carefully chosen German Red bloodlines.

“It’s a rejuvenated [Danish] white with excellent antler, good size and better constitution.” 

The Danish white are thought to have evolved from a herd owned by the King of Denmark. Hayes hit upon the idea of developing the niche breed after moving to an 11ha lifestyle block near Rangiora in 1996. 

The plan was to farm the 200 elk brought from her Te Anau farm but it soon became apparent the big and bolshy animals weren’t suited to the smaller space. Keen to stick with deer farming, other breeds were considered until Ollie – a Danish white stag bought from Bob Swann – set Hayes in a new direction.

“My idea was to create a new breed of white deer and a hardier all-round animal.”

She set out to capture and stabilise the white gene and at the same time improve constitution and antler by introducing what she considered to be the best Red genetics. The project involved meticulous recording of sires and dams and hefty culling along the way. 

Proof of her success to date is Talcom, a 31-pointer with an SCI measurement of 246 6/8 that placed 17th in the one-year-old section at this year’s Xcell Rising Stars competition. Although not equal with the best Reds or elk they’re catching up with the huge improvement in style and measurement which is very satisfying, Hayes says.

The striking white deer have particular appeal to trophy-paying clients in search of something different and already several have been sold to outfitters.

The herd now has about 60 deer, which are being offered for sale so Hayes can step back and “slow down”. She’s offering what she calls a “starter pack” of two white in-fawn hinds and a stag. Buyers keen to get the whole herd would be looking at spending “big money”.

“It’s taken a lot of work and patience and of course money – I’ve done the hard yards and buyers will have something really special to continue and build on.”

Throughout her 30-year involvement in the industry Hayes has worn many hats in deer-related committees. But she’s stepped back from the formal roles and is now pouring her energy into promoting venison locally.

“I think that the marketing and promotion of venison overseas is good but why don’t we do it here more, and better?”

She’s made it her mission to spread the word about venison at some A&P shows around Canterbury with cooking demonstrations of Mountain River-supplied venison.

“I want to get the message out there that it is so easy to cook and a wonderful, healthy product.”

Hayes also sponsors a Lochinvine-branded show jump that features prominently in the show ring at several Canterbury equestrian competitions.

A biography of Hayes’ life – Stilettos to Gumboots – is also due for release.

“When will depend on when I make time to sit down and think!”

Royal Lochinvine deer are something special for the trophy hunter market, Janey Hayes says. Photo: Trev White

Runway success

Janey Hayes will never be accused of having a life half-lived. Deer recovery, farming and breeding are just some of the colourful chapters in her life. 

Born and raised in Canterbury, Hayes was sent by her parents to a Paula Ryan modelling school in the hope of taming her tomboy ways. 

The cunning plan worked a treat – Janey took to the catwalk and walked away with the Miss New Zealand crown in 1976. 

The win paved the way to an international modelling career as well as ski instructing in Switzerland. It was a James Bond-girl type of existence she loved, but returning home in the late 1970s she married helicopter pilot Richard Hayes and got involved in the fledgling deer industry.

“He taught me the other side of life,” Hayes says.

Based in Te Anau the pair, along with Dick Deaker and the late Jim Kane, formed a consortium and worked for the government to capture and preserve wapiti and elk out of Fiordland. It was an adrenaline-fuelled lifestyle of shooting and capturing live deer where payment included surplus stags and hinds along with fawns that Hayes hand-raised.

“The hinds often wouldn’t be capable of raising a fawn when they were captured so I hand-reared up to 100 every year.”

The recovered deer formed the base of a herd farmed on 160ha near Te Anau. When her marriage ended Hayes and her children Caroline and Michael, along with the elk shifted to an 11ha lifestyle block near Rangiora. Her most recent chapter as white deer breeder started in 2000.

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading